Cabinetman

My dad has been Porsche shopping for the last few weeks and as any good son would do i have been tagging along. It is kind of a tradition for us to car shop together. Plus I'm the "car guy" in the family.

During our Porsche shopping I was able to drive an '09 Carrera, Carrera S and Carrera 4S all with the new 7 speed PDK. My natural reaction was to compare the this tranny to the wonderful 8 speed in my IS F.

First off, let's look at shift speed. The PDK shifts FAST. I didn't notice a huge difference in upshift speed, but downshift were much much quicker. Even going from 7th to 3rd as fast as I could hit the buttons I noticed zero delay in the Porsche. The fast reving flat six might be part of the advantage here since it can rev match quicker than the F's V8. Advantage: Porsche

Now lets look at the auto mode. Here again the Porsche PDK impressed me. During one 30 minute test drive I left a C4S in auto mode almost the entire time and I was surprised by how smooth it shifted. I expected it to be jerky, but the was not the case. The Lexus is also a smooth shifting unit in auto as one would expect considering its roots. I have read complaints about the Lexus having too many gears and therefore hunts for the right gear a lot, however I haven't noticed that at all. Both trannies downshift quickly when the go peddle is pushed to the floor. Advantage: Lexus by a hair

Finally, there is the user interface. This is where I jump off the Porsche bandwagon. I do not like that you have to push a button with you thumb on the front of the wheel to upshift and use your index or middle finger to push a button on the back of the wheel downshift. I constantly found myself downshifting when I meant to upshift because I would push the button on the back side of the steering wheel on the right side out of habit. There is nothing like hitting second gear at 65 mph when you are expecting an upshift to 4th. I was told that Porsche set the buttons like this so current customers used to the Tiptronic wouldn't have issues. My question to Porsche is this, do you really want people remembering the tiptronic? Anyways, the Lexus paddles are a joy to use being just the right size for me and having a very nice action to them. Advantage: Lexus

All in all I came away very impressed with PDK, but also amazed at just how well Lexus has tuned the 8 speed in the IS F. I was expecting the PDK to be far superior based on Porsche's reputation and the number of years this tranny has been in development for their road cars. However, I feel the Lexus tranny stacks up very nicely. I'm sure on the race track the PDK's lightning quick downshift and spot on rev matching would make it a clear winner. In the real world I am perfectly happy with the Lexus auto.

As a side note, if you order your Porsche with the PDK and Sport Chrono package you get launch control. This is the first car I have ever driven with launch control, and it was pretty damn cool. It made me wish Lexus had a similar option even though I would probably never use it in day to day driving.

DRE1615

Great write up! I'm jealous that you are car shopping at Porsche dealers. Me and some buddies do that all the time during the summer. Checking out the new rides.
Here's a review of the Porsche PDK vs the BMW M3 Dual Clutch tranny. It's nice. I think the new Cayman S with or without the PDK and the LSD is a beautiful car. PDK with launch control is very sexy though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9k5Lo_ja_w

Cabinetman

Before my dad retired from the family business we would go car shopping a lot. He and I are both pretty fickle and tend to only keep a car for a year or so.

Porsche dealers are by far my favorite to visit. The sales staff at both dealerships we went to were not at all pushy. They also encourage long test drives and never once suggested that a salesman needed to ride along. It made me laugh when the salesman tossed us the keys to a C4S Targa that stickered for $112,000 and told us to enjoy it for the afternoon. I was laughing because a week earlier I was at a Pontiac dealer to test drive the G8 GXP and the salesman had to drive me off the lot and told me we could only drive the car for a short time because the GXP was in high demand and the GM of the store didn't want the miles racked up.

LEXUSF

iTrader: (3)

why would you even look at a pontiac? such a cheap made car!???

8speed

We are talking about a sports car that stickers for almost three times as much as what IS-F's are going for and has perhaps the most technologically advanced transmission seen in a production vehicle.


I'm not surprised, why should anyone else be

BigMikeISF

Great write up!

primecut

iTrader: (1)

Sweet... the 997s are awesome cars. Do you have any other observations and comparisons besides the transmission? I think the power/acceleration is pretty close right? How about handling, braking, road feel, build quality, interior, etc? I know it's apples and oranges but comparisons would be interesting.

kyang91

iTrader: (5)

What a great son you are......Porsche are great piece of machine I am looking forward to owning one some day.

8speed

+1

Dave600hL

Me too, just have to wait for the kids to grow up a bit. But I don't want the to grow up too quick as life is too short and their childhood is too short to be wishing time away.

Cabinetman

The Porsche 997 is true blooded sportscar. Even with the PASM set to normal the ride was more stiff than the IS F. When the suspension was set to Sport the ride was pretty close to harsh. Also, the 997 is a loud car. Wind and road noise are prevalent at speed. The new '09s are a bit quieter due to chassis upgrades, but still nothing like the F. Plus Porsche's ergos are not quite on par with Lexus. There are way too many small buttons around the radio, and you had to use the strange device called a key to start the thing.

The thing is you can easily overlook all the small nitpicks when you actually drive one. The sound of the flat six is amazing. I love running the car up to redline just to hear the motor sing. There is plenty of thrust to go along with the motor music. I would venture to say that the standard Carrera for '09 is very close to the F in acceleration due to a 20hp bump across the 997 lineup. The 997S I believe would outrun the F. Both cars feel faster than the F to me, but part of that might have to do with the lower seating position, extra cabin noise and the fast reving flat six. Steering in lighter in the Porsche but has so much feedback and response that it is easy to put the car exactly where you want it. I never tested the max braking performance, peddle feel was good. Add in the rear weight bias, wider tires and substantially lower curb weight I would expect the Porsche to edge the F in stop distance and fade resistance.

If you want a true sports car I think it would be hard to pass up a 997 if money allowed. True you can get a Z06 for less than a base Carrera, but speed isn't everything. Porsche has been developing the 911 for decades and it shows when you drive one. I hope one day to add a Porsche to my garage, but for now I'm more than happy with my F.

Cabinetman

Curiosity mostly. I had read good things about the car in some of the magazines and figured that the G8 deserved a look.

You can read my thoughts on the car here:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...nd-review.html

8speed

Very good insight, well done. In regards to performance however, I have not had the chance to run with a 997 however before I left San Diego for Vagina, I had the pleasure of running around with a 997 S with the 3.8 liter 6 and from 50 mph+ it was dead even until about 95-100 I started to pull. Not sure if he let off or what but as we all know, there is no replacement for displacement. There is no way in hell a standard 997 is quicker.........that is a fact!

Cabinetman

Keep in mind the 2009 standard Carrera has 345hp and weighs just over 3100lbs. With the rear weight bias they launch very well and the PDK snicks off shift at an alarming rate. The F might still have the advantage, but it would be close. The S has 385hp and only weights about 100lbs more than the standard Carrera so I think it will be quicker than a F. For comparison the '05 to '08 S had 355hp and no PDK option.

It really is fun to compare the numbers, but in my opinion a 997 wouldn't make that great of a daily driver. The stiff ride and cabin noise would get old on a long trip. Plus my boys' car seats would be hell to get in and out of the Porsche. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I have reached a point where I will give up some performance for a more comfortable ride. Now if I could afford a weekend toy...

gengar

Great stuff OP, thanks for the report.